wanderer of the night
by Ebaz
Summary: She'd wanted to scream at him. She'd wanted to make him remember those moments they'd caught in secluded corners, those times they'd shut themselves in his room when no one else was in, those times he'd whispered promises in her ear and let them take root in her mind as tiny sprigs of hope. ::CynthiaLucian.


The building was the largest one he'd ever been in – even bigger than the Sinnoh League, which was all archaic turrets and too-symmetrical halls. It was big, and under-furnished, and nearly devoid of people.

Well, that's what it felt like, anyway. It was designed for 130 people, leaders-Elites-Champion from each of the Ten Civilized Regions, but Kanto and Johto were still recovering from their Unspeakable War and Oblivia hadn't bothered to show (which was inadvisable, considering the tensions between it and Unova at the moment). The estate didn't feel solid enough with only ninety-one people roaming its halls.

Actually, Lucian was probably the only one roaming the halls at the moment, considering it was 3:41 AM and most of the covert parties had died down already. Between those and a long conversation with his insufferable sister Shauntal about editing her latest book, he hadn't been able to sleep, and thus took to exploring. He'd have preferred outdoors, of course, but the place was heavily-armed and wouldn't allow anyone to enter or exit between the hours of eleven and six. It was, to say the least, inconvenient.

Lucian liked to think of himself as an observant person. He took the time to analyze people: the inflections of their voices, their mannerisms, the ways in which they interacted with others; he noticed things others didn't – the scuff on the wall, for instance, that was most likely the residue of a potion bottle missed by cleaning staff, or the fact that the floor he was currently on was empty, by the state of the locks (all perpendicular to the floor).

And he noticed that no, the last statement was not entirely true, when a soft whimper pierced the otherwise unscathed silence.

At first he thought it was a Pokémon that had gotten itself stuck in a room after being left to prowl (out of respect to his colleagues, he wouldn't say by a careless trainer, but disapproved of the action anyways), and let out his Alakazam to identify the creature.

_Master, a human has been detected,_Alakazam reported in its mournful telepathic voice.

He frowned. Was it too rude to go in there and investigate? But he didn't consider it for long – the door was unlocked, and whoever it was would definitely have locked it if they'd wanted privacy – so he recalled Alakazam and stepped quietly into the room.

He immediately realized that this was a very bad idea. One, this was a person that he definitely knew. Two, he was clearly invading privacy, judging by the clothes-strewn floor and the broken lamp in the corner. And three – most distressingly – he had absolutely no idea how to deal with a crying female.

"Cynthia," he said quietly, more as a realization than a way to get her attention, but she looked up sharply.

"Lucian," she croaked, eyes leaking mascara-darkened tears down her puffy cheeks.

He knelt down next to her. "What's wrong?" he asked, arranging his features into an expression of concern.

She shook her head. "I-it's nothing." She wiped her eyes on the backs of her hands, smearing black across them, and put on a tired smile. "See, I'm fine."

_(She wasn't fine. His words still burned her inside, acerbically gentle and crushingly honest all at the same time.)_

Lucian shook his head. "You're not fine," he said. And on a hunch, he added, "…Is it about Steven?"

_("We can't possibly continue this," he'd said apologetically, firmly. "We're both too preoccupied with other matters. It's not a relationship, see? It's not healthy."_

"_Steven, I–")_

Her lack of response confirmed his hypothesis. "It's not healthy to dwell on it," he said solemnly. "I won't make you talk about it, but don't let it stay inside you." He really hoped he was doing this right.

_(She'd wanted to scream at him. She'd wanted to make him remember those moments they'd caught in secluded corners, those times they'd shut themselves in his room when no one else was in, those times he'd whispered promises in her ear and let them take root in her mind as tiny sprigs of hope.)_

_She'd wanted to say so much more than "I see.")_

There was another silence. Finally, she dared to speak.

"Lucian… do you think I'm pretty?"

Oh, no. This was a warning sign. This was_ definitely_ not a good thing, especially if she'd just had a fight with Steven… What was he supposed to do? Cursing internally and wishing he'd left Alakazam out for guidance, he gave a panicked answer.

"You're – you're normally very pretty, yes. Crying doesn't really enhance your looks, though," he said, trying not to break his usually-composed manner of speaking.

He was bracing himself for her response, ready to rescind anything offensive, when – well… nothing could have prepared him for this.

What happened next was a blur. He couldn't quite recall, when accidentally remembering that night some time later, what had gone through his mind, except for the fact that he hadn't ever been kissed like _that_ before.

Her lips were soft, but they pressed against his roughly, yearning for something he couldn't quite identify. She knotted her fingers in his hair, forcing them closer and transforming their previous positions into a tangle of legs and arms and unidentified emotions released against the cold wall, and all warnings were pushed away to make room for the feeling of her chest smashed against his through her tight black dress –

It was all such a bad idea – accepting the kiss, responding passionately, not objecting when their clothes became fewer and the friction between them became greater – that the idea of his imminent neglect didn't strike him as significant until the next morning.

She had slipped out from under his arm just an hour earlier, gathering her garments in an inextricable shame and only deigning to leave a note out of genuine pity for the man she'd just spent the night with. It wasn't her room – the entire floor was meant for the missing Johto delegates – so he wouldn't know where to find her for at least a little while longer. With only a short glance backwards, she quietly hurried down the stairs and slipped past the guards, emerging in the foggy north of Unova.

Lucian awoke with the note in his hand, her loopy scrawl spelling out the hurt he felt.

_I'm really, really sorry about everything. I hope you'll forgive me. –C_

She had clearly been in a hurry. The letters ran together, slanting forward and cramped in parts, too messy for her usual impeccable hand. He stared at the bit of paper, noting its torn edge and general carelessness, and wondered if she thought of him the same way. He read it a hundred times over, searching for a shred of comfort to cling to, finding none.

He shook his head and got out of bed with a sigh. He redressed and thought of nothing, because he couldn't afford to. He didn't think of the meeting that day, or their return to Sinnoh, or the days he would have to spend in her presence, eliminating potential challengers from facing her. He just didn't think, because he knew it would break him.

The halls were too bright for him. They screamed _happy_ at him, with their pastel pinks and blues, and he didn't care to respond. He passed colleagues on the way up to his room, too many tired-and-smiling faces to count, and gave them all a tired-and-hollow smile in return. The world hurried around him, concerned with anything and everything at once.

It wasn't until he finally reached the solitude of his own room that he realized how full the building really was, and how empty it should have been. It should have matched his heart, giving him a companion in this abysmal disposition.

But he was alone once more, a wanderer of the night that had found day, and nothing could be more bleak.

* * *

_A/N: ugh i apologize because i can never get endings right;;;_

_anyways, thank you to The Light's Refrain for giving me the idea for this pairing! :D_

_please don't forget to review! i will love you forever~ :)_

_-Ebaz_


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